The force marriage
Joy's hands were shaking as she stared at the cheap wedding dress her stepmother threw at her.
"You should be thanking me!" Mrs. Benson sneered, her lips painted blood red. "At 24, no man wants you. This welder at least agreed to marry you without dowry. He works at the old shop on Market Road."
Joy bit her lower lip. Since her father died, her life in that house had become hell. Her step-sister, Amara, got everything - new clothes, university fees, love. Joy got insults and the kitchen floor to sleep on.
"His name is Ade. Don't embarrass me," her stepmother continued. "He has nothing. Just a toolbox and a sweaty face. Perfect for you."
Joy picked up the dress. It was two sizes too big and smelled of mothballs. Tomorrow, she would be a wife to a man she had never met.
---
The next afternoon at the registry was worse than she imagined.
Joy stood in the too-big dress, hair hastily packed, while a tired clerk read the papers.
And then HE walked in.
He wasn't what she expected.
He was tall, easily 6'2, with broad shoulders that filled the doorway. He wore a faded black t-shirt, dusty work pants, and steel-toed boots. His hands were rough, stained with grease and burns from metal work. But his face was handsome in a hard, dangerous way. Sharp jaw, dark intense eyes, and a scar just above his left eyebrow.
"You must be Joy," his voice was deep, low, and cold.
She could only nod.
"Let's get this over with. I don't have all day," he said, distant. Like this was a business transaction.
The clerk pushed the papers forward. "Sign here."
Joy's hand trembled as she signed: _Joy Benson._
Ade signed next to her with a strong, firm stroke: _Ade Thomas._
Just like that, she was Mrs. Thomas. Wife to a welder.
Outside the registry, the sun was scorching. Ade didn't look at her.
"I have work. The shop is behind this building. Second door. You can go there and wait," he said, already turning away.
"Wait! You are my husband now. Are you just leaving me here?"
He stopped and turned slowly. His dark eyes scanned her from head to toe.
"I married you because your stepmother owed my boss money and offered you as payment. Don't expect love, Joy. I need a wife to stop my family from disturbing me. You need a roof over your head. That's our deal."
Tears burned Joy's eyes but she refused to cry.
"You get my name. You get my house. You don't get my heart," he said bluntly. "Be at the shop by 6pm. I hate late people."
He walked away, leaving her standing alone in her wedding dress.
Joy clutched her small bag tighter. Inside it was all she owned.
She didn't know that the "poor welder" she just married was actually Adeoluwa Thomas - the billionaire heir of Thomas Steel Group, disguised as a welder to find a wife who didn't want his money.
She didn't know that in his wallet, after he signed her marriage papers, he had transferred 10 million naira to her stepmother to free her.
All she knew was that her forced marriage had just started, and her billionaire husband already hated her.
